Dents, trim & interior

The smaller end of NAICS 811121: paintless dent repair where the paint survived, bumper and trim work, and interior repair after a break-in, a spill or an airbag deployment.

Call (608) 555-0142 Who chooses the shop

Not everything needs a full refinish, and saying so costs us money, which is roughly the standard this site is trying to hold itself to. Where the paint is intact and the metal is merely displaced, the cheaper repair is usually also the better one, because the factory finish is the best finish the car will ever have.

Hail is the common Wisconsin case. A hail-damaged roof and bonnet with unbroken paint is often entirely a paintless repair.

A short honest list

—: If the paint is unbroken, ask about paintless repair first. It is faster, it is cheaper, and it keeps the factory finish.
—: A bumper cover that is scuffed is usually repairable; one that is cracked through usually is not.
—: After a break-in, the glass is the quick part. The cleanup is the long part, and tempered glass fragments travel further into a car than anybody expects.
—: Hail claims are often handled as their own kind of claim. Ask whether yours carries a separate deductible.

Which repair suits which damage

Section 105 — Dents, trim & interior register
Damage	Usual approach	When it is not suitable
Hail dimples, paint intact	Paintless dent repair	Paint cracked, or metal stretched
Door ding, paint intact	Paintless dent repair	On a panel edge or brace line
Creased panel	Conventional repair and refinish	—
Scuffed bumper cover	Repair and refinish the cover	Tabs or mounts broken through
Cracked bumper cover	Replace the cover	—
Break-in: glass and trim	Glass, trim, and cleanup of the interior	Structural damage to the aperture
Airbag deployment	Module replacement and interior reinstatement	Frequently part of a larger structural job

Glass is governed by a different section

Break-ins and hail usually involve glass, and glass is carved out of the section this site is mostly about. We publish that even though it is the part of the law that helps us least.

All four subsections

§ 632.375(3)Motor vehicle repair practices[Glass is governed by § 632.37 instead]

Section 632.37, rather than this section, applies to the repair or replacement of motor vehicle glass under a motor vehicle insurance policy.

Wis. Stat. § 632.375(3) History: 2015 a. 93. Read it at the source

Statutory passages on this page are quoted from the Wisconsin Statutes and were last checked in October 2026 against docs.legis.wisconsin.gov. Statutes are amended. This is general information about a public law, not legal advice, and it is not a statement about your particular claim. Read the section yourself, or ask a lawyer.

Questions about this work

Is paintless dent repair a lesser repair?

The opposite, where it applies. It preserves the original factory finish, which no refinish can replicate exactly. It only applies where the paint is unbroken and the metal has not been stretched past what can be worked back.

Can a dent be repaired without touching the paint?

Often, yes — that is what paintless dent repair is. The metal is worked back from behind while the original finish stays on it. It needs access to the back of the panel and it needs the paint to be genuinely unbroken; a dent with a crease or a chip in it is a conventional repair.

Should I claim for hail at all?

That depends on your deductible, the number of panels affected and your own claims history, and it is a decision worth making with numbers rather than instinct. Telephone and we will give you an honest sense of scale before you call the insurer.

All questions · How to read an estimate

The other sections

Sections of work
No.	Section	Covers
101	Collision repair	The ordinary case: something hit the car, or the car hit something, and panels, lights and the structure behind them have to come back to specification.
102	Structural & frame	When the hit reached past the panels. Straight is a measurement against the manufacturer's specification, in millimetres, not a judgement made by eye.
103	Paint & refinish	Colour match, blend, clear and cure. Paint has a minimum time that cannot be compressed, which is the single most common reason a delivery date moves.
104	Sensors & calibration	The cameras and radar that run automatic braking and lane keeping sit behind the panels that get hit. A panel replaced without recalibration leaves a system aimed somewhere it is not.

Describe the damage on the telephone

You will get a straight answer about what this is likely to involve, what is likely to move the date, and whether it is even worth opening a claim.

Call (608) 555-0142

Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–5:30 PM CT